Salutation #92

What seeks to banish the evils in human society,

what seeks to redress the legitimate grievances of the community,

what seeks to safeguard the individual good and the common good,

what seeks to fulfill the requirements of the creative ideal expressed by the hopes of every nation and mandated by the ideals vested in each its Responsible States,

all of these are acts of Spiritual Justice.

It is what imparts force of truth to the individual will to preserve through human institutions, the peace and the order of civil society.

(3rd Cause - Justice)

(Defeating the Culture of Impunity)

Ignorance is poisonous but indifference is lethal.

This culture of impunity

is like a dragon-shaped shadow

hovering over our captive nation;

it seems huge when taken all together

and terrifying when seen from a distance,

looming like a serpent constantly waiting to strike

but from up close, if we choose to examine it,

it is still made of nothing

and everywhere it is vulnerable.

Like a tyranny without a tyrant,

it grips our society in a parasitic embrace

keeping the people from becoming

and the nation from the truth of itself.

To pierce through its illusion,

our present leadership must remain alert

to the shine (heart) and to the leading (reality)

of the great Providence of the LORD -

serving as servants and leading as leaders

enabling our nation to shine as one whole sky

empowering our people to become as they are

- citizens not unlike each other -

shining for God and mother Country

with sunbeams sharp against the darkness

dispelling the dragon's false embrace.

- selah -

Therefore,

let us confront all of these

individual injustices together

(particularly at this present time,

that of the murdered journalist and

fellow Filipino, Christopher "Cris" Guarin)

- in our hearts, in our lives, in our times -

through varied gifts and stations in life

bound together wholly as one nation

under the eternal vigilance of God

arrayed in time and across time

as one Republic undertaking of Country

and like a multitude of sharp spears -

speak the truth

and stand for the right!

For it shall take all of us to defeat this evil dragon

and overthrow its lineage of weakness and defeat;

prevailing as one work, one heart, one destiny.

Indeed,

my brothers and sisters of the Promise,

- all that is shadow must always yield to the light -

for it is still made of nothing

and everywhere it is vulnerable.

---<--@

Land of Promise,

Cradle of the Brave,

from the tyranny of oppression

thou shalt never yield.

20110613

The Spratly Dispute

Our one Filipino nation has intimate cultural ties with the one Chinese nation. These historical ties are built upon the strength of common blood ties as well as by the pull of national necessities that flow naturally from the geography of our growing region.

Because of this, it is very difficult (but not impossible) for me to visualize our one Republic in open armed conflict with the People's Republic of China (PRC). And I am reasonably sure that the PRC feels the same way.

Armed conflict between any nation is truly an option of last resort and one not to be entered into lightly.

Therefore, what we must guard against is the unnecessary escalation of tension.

It is vital that reporting (from all sources) on the Spratly dispute respects and represents this fact of our national life - peace is our prerogative. No one in his or her right mind would want our whole region to descend into open war.

This is our first and foremost consideration - War serves no nation.

We are duty-bound both by honor and charity, to repel all threats that impugn the sovereignty of our one Republic however - and this consideration above all is what must drive our will to see to it that this issue is resolved - properly and using all available means.

Indeed, every citizen of every nation is bound to the common defense of their Country from every and all elements that threaten their peace and good will both internal as well as external.

Defense is a reaction. So what are we reacting to in the case of the Spratly issue?

There really is only one worthwhile cause for a shooting war - a clear, imminent and direct threat to the life of our nation i.e. our population and its posterity. This cause above all other causes absolutely compel the conduct of the defense. For it is the very cause of our existence as a nation.

Everything else must lie squarely within the realm of statecraft and diplomacy - until it fails and we have to go to war. God-forbid this should happen but it has happened before in the history of our nations - and many, many times.

Personally speaking, I am not convinced that we are presently reacting to a clear, imminent and direct threat to the life of our nation.

But if we remain confused or undecided about how we might as a Republic react to this threat, it might come to pass that we shall find ourselves treading a path we did not set out to take. Fear is only good if it keeps us alert to the truth.

What is in our hearts, my honorable compatriots, matter. We can not react passionately about this issue. Nor can we allow vague sentimentalism to rule our love of Country.

The Republic we serve is real, the people it shelters is all too real. As regards to the Spratly issue, there exists also a real threat - but the conclusion most favorable to our nation (and therefore, to all nations in the long-term) depends on how well we are able to penetrate today the confusion that must surround it.

Defense is a reaction. How well we handle ourselves matter above all because how well we handle ourselves (especially in the midst of adversity) is a reflection of how well we know ourselves both as a nation and as a Republic whole. And according to how much we know ourselves, we are able to glimpse also into the humanity of other nations as well.

Here is my analysis on the matter:

There are in reality two States that serve the one Chinese nation. For our intents and purposes, we shall refer to them as the elder and the younger States i.e. the mainland and the island ones.

The elder State is authoritarian in form. Her language therefore, will reflect this form. She is a Republic and therefore, very protective of her own. But so are we.

Though she does not always represent the actual desire of her nation - fact is, the elder State is still representative of the authority to represent that desire. If we know ourselves, we know to understand what this desire is.

But since we are a fully functional emerging democracy - the way by which we intend to achieve the end for which this desire exists in our people is very distinct though not different from her.

Where this desire intersects is where the common ground for the Spratly dispute may be found not in its distinctions.

Since this is a dispute, we can not meet her at her language. We have to stay with our own. We must reiterate the facts without inflaming the passions that underlie the tension. We must agree to use a common terminology that is neutral.

We have to consolidate our own collective will to preserve our peace and use this opportunity to press forward with our own internal national reconciliation processes strategically synchronizing these with our national development agendas (their tactical requirements as it were, including the modernization of our AFP, PNP, BFP, BJMP, etc.) without which our Republic can not obtain to its fullest potential.

ASEAN has a large part to play in this, of course. I am mystified as to why the knee-jerk reaction is to fly to the US and not to our partners in the region first. Our region is important enough to consider and one that is collectively possessed of interests of its own - more importantly, these interests are shared interests and they must be represented by our ASEAN.

The US is an ally (and a valuable one too) but she is not the only one. We have to learn to place a real value on our friendships with other nations as a matter of completing our remembrances.

The US is in principle an ally of the defense - and so are all the other nations (each to its own degree) of our one family of nations in the United Nations, China included. Our own worst enemy here at the moment is the perceptions we create in ourselves and therefore in other nations.

We must be clear and we must be resolute, above all we must base our thinking about the matter on relevant facts and our understanding of its favorable resolution on the force of law.

We must take to the side of the defense and undertake to properly understand it and the peace that it serves.

War serves no nation. I am not saying that fighting for the defense of our nation is not good, I am meaning precisely that. Fighting for the defense is good and when it is, it ultimately leads its nation to victory.

What we presently need here is an order of business not an order of battle.

The contested areas are not viable population centers in the near to mid-term therefore, the core of the dispute is really and specifically economic in nature.

There is a great possibility that the area is rich in petrochemical resources. I am of the conviction that diplomatic tact and business acumen not military force will best serve the national interests of all parties concerned as well as preserve the stability of the greater region.

We must specifically and strictly confine the Spratley dispute into the realm of strategic, regional economics. We may ask ourselves, "what regional economic goals may it serve?"

And this strategy must be geared towards the eventual de-militarization of the region.

Owing to the times, the actual causus belli of the Spratly issue - i.e. the resources - is limited by time itself so that the further we remain indecisive on the matter, the less and less probable that any nation will succeed in harnessing and therefore, profiting from the true potential of the area.

Research is parallel to available information and in the age of information, sans the paradigm of War, research will only go exponentially fast. And all research is driven by necessity.

My thinking here is that if we sit on this issue long enough without actually going to war, it will probably go away (at least in terms of significance).

And it is most likely that this is the outcome, disadvantageous though it may be (in terms of economic gain for the entire region), that is most advantageous to all parties concerned, if the region remains indecisive.

If we remain divided on the issue - the best outcome is to prevent an open, armed conflict. If we are to find some common ground on the issue - the best outcome is an economic one. Therefore, the less politics involved the better it shall be.

---<--@

The Culture of Death

A famous saying goes, "home is where the heart is." This is true because a house is not always a home.

Now, the culture of death is like a house built on four foundations.

1. Heretical Materialism - the social doctrine that both the goal and the substance of life is purely material because the physical universe is really all there is.
2. Atheistic Secularism - the religion that imposes the belief that there is no God because Man is independent and self-sufficient by himself alone.
3. Moral Relativism - the lie that believes that justice is arbitrary because there are no moral absolutes as both good and evil come in convenient shades of gray.
4. Social Darwinism - the lie that believes that brute force is the singular social requirement, in the absence of virtue and truth, that measure the excellence of nations or individuals.

A culture of death is a culture of contempt for Sacred Life. This is the house that breeds the darkness that sustains the Beast of War.

It is a house that must rely on division being held up purely by its opposition to the truth. It is therefore, a house built invariably on persecution of whatever form and spirit.

It harbors a great disregard for our common humanity.

It must necessarily hold the universal spirit of Mankind in utter contempt, disrespecting the virtues embodied in its heroes - all our patriarchs, prophets, judges, kings, queens, apostles, bishops, martyrs, virgins, doctors, saints, holy personages, leaders and teachers - from all times and from all peoples, known and known to God alone, all those who are particularly beloved of every honorable religion, and therefore, to one Creator of all Sacred Life in all His revealed mystery.

It abhors wisdom in all its forms and seeks to scandalize the common people and undo the peace of the nations.

This is not our house.

Another thing about the culture of death, this house is parasitic. We only have to return to our original foundations and work to reverse its lies in ourselves to find our home (away from Home) once again.

---<--@

Sheltering Wings

The difference between a monarch and a president is one of election. The similarity is that both of them still have to make the surrender of kings - an acceptance of a life of service to the nation as a rule above all rules.

Now, the peace of the Responsible State are like sheltering wings - everybody is engaged from the center in a lateral hierarchy that embraces the nation.

This is a liberating embrace - one that both preserves the dignity of the individual citizen as well as unleashes their promise in the service of the national good - everybody ascends with but one ascending to the vision of Country being in itself true to the first principles of nationhood.

The opposite is the grip of a tyrant. And we all know this from common experience.

This is the shelter we are presently trying to obtain for our nation - not for winter's sake but for the spring. This is the cause of our allied generations begun in 2009 (prior to 2009 there was no choice and after 2012, this choice will be no more).

---<--@

Salutation #13

(Completing our EDSA)

To all our national communities, Peace -

A significant part of the peace of the times, my people,

as it concerns our nation, the Philippines,

involves bridging the gap between generations

and between administrations.

There are specific moments in our history

that we need to re-examine in light of these times.

And we shall do this not to scatter

either our belongings to each other

or our remembrances together

but to more fully gather them together

in and amidst ourselves.

For if we know ourselves as ourselves,

we can no longer be a nation

swayed hither tither by a dark night.

If we find confusion in our hearts about the past -

especially from 1986,

now is the time to re-examine these pivotal events.

And we shall do this with a view to establish the facts

upon more familiar grounds of fundamental truths

we have now re-discovered about ourselves as a nation

as well as about our nation in the context of its God-given right

to prosper and advance

under the peace of a Republic undertaking of Country.

Look upon these present times yourselves, my honorable compatriots,

and see the coincidences for what they are - signal graces.

My intention here is to guide you -

but you have to let yourself be led.

And not by me.

- selah -

All our Presidents have had something to give to our Country.

It is up to us to discern what good there is

that we have inherited from past Presidencies.

For if we remember only the problems,

we shall fail to build on the strength

of previous administrations.

It is only natural for every generation

to inherit a degree of evil

(to test their strength and commitment to the truth)

but sufficient for this evil - always -

is the good of the prevailing day.

We have come to remember

the faults of our Presidents

and may God allow it to serve our vigilance well.

But to the point that we tend to almost always forget their virtues,

we are consigning ourselves to a labor of unending beginnings.

For it is these virtues that connect our lineages together

and it is by the strength of these connections that we prosper.

If we are wise, my people,

and if the LORD, our God, blesses us,

even what darkness there is may lead us to the light.

Only those who are without remembrance remain in the dark.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Sheltering Wings

The Circular Relationship of the Four Causes

20101124

The Pontiff of Love

My Holy Father Benedict XVI recently acknowledged that the use of condoms is permissible in some instances to prevent the spread of HIV; a statement widely regarded as a step forward.

Pope Paul VI in the encyclical Humanae Vitae (14) acknowledged that it is sometimes lawful to tolerate a lesser moral evil in order to avoid a greater evil or to promote a greater good. It is in this context and only in this context that the statement should be viewed in my opinion.

Indeed, my fellow Filipino compatriots, the debate thickens. A lot of people are eager to make progress in this issue but one thing it is not - simple.

Now, if we can all agree on that, that the issue of contraception, sexually transmissible diseases, and population control is not simple, may I also propose to you, in fact, that stepping forward might be the last thing we need right now.

Perhaps, what we need to do is to step out of the issue and try to perceive it from a vantage point that allows us to grasp at the enormity of the question at hand and understand that there will be no easy answers.

Now, the world-at-large may say many things about the Pope but in my eyes, Holy Father Benedict XVI is the Pontiff of Love.

He is for my Holy Mother Church and for all people of good will, the right person at the right time - our time, my fellow Filipino compatriots. And let me tell you why -

His first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), is an exposition of God being Love Itself and Love which is intimately involved in the life of our humanity and that this Love is consummated in Christ; that this God is not someone or something that dwells from across vast open distances of space and time for God is found nearer to Man than we can ever possibly imagine; that Man need not look outward to find Him but only inward into the soul of his being where from the Sanctuary of the Heart, the LORD dwells to fill the universe entire with Light.

For if Love is not present in the heart of Man, God shall nowhere be found in the galaxy or in the universe entire.

This Love is also synonymous with Goodness, Beauty, and Simplicity.

All of this means to say to me that the Holy Father draws from those first principle truths, an understanding of the sheer complexities of human living, and seeks to proceed from it to arrive also at answers to the problems that trouble our age - and there are many.

I can only imagine the angst of the Holy Father - we must continue to always pray for him.

Because when one dwells upon the magnificence of God as Goodness; of God as Love and Beauty Itself, one becomes necessarily confronted with the mystery of evil and the human condition.

Consequently, one arrives at the virtue of Hope which is the subject of his second encyclical - Spe Salve (Salvific Hope). His apostolic exhoration Sacramentum Caritatis (Sacrament of Charity) means to strengthen and renew the Church in the Sacrament of Love, the Eucharist, and his latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Love in Truth) is one that proceeds to courageously address and engage the nascent problems of our age.

Truly, Holy Father Benedict XVI is the Pontiff of Love.

What he says and does I take seriously for he is with us, brothers and sisters, so let us banish the thought, first of all, that the Pope is in any way or form against any of us who are seeking for intelligent answers to this debate. What can be derived from all of this confusion is that we must indeed proceed with caution for this question of the RH Bill concerns the highest of causes - that of Sacred Life - the Cause of God.

Hence, we must be more eager to step out of the issue than to move forward and not misplace our zeal for progress in the fight for the betterment of our nation.

I also completely understand that it means a lot to our Filipino nation, being a majority Catholic nation, to meaningfully understand what confronts us here - on a moral level, viewed from the heart of Mother Church. And so I am particularly engaged in the striving for answers with you, my fellow Filipino compatriots, both as a citizen and a Roman Catholic Christian.

Let me begin this with the culture of death that pervades the times. For this culture of death is the universal background against which the problems of contraception, sexually transmissible diseases, and population control (among other evils) merge together to confront our collective moral understanding as a people.

It would do us well in the interim to try to get a better understanding of what the culture of death presents to us not in terms of what it promises to our eyes but of what it does not and can not promise to our generations; that our conviction for a culture of life may become more and more deeply and profoundly established.

Concerning the RH Bill in particular, this culture of death shall be the next topic of discussion in this blog.

Truly, we have to individually reflect and pray about what decision to make in the forums of the Republic before our Congress acts on the RH Bill next year.

In the meantime, my fellow Filipino compatriots, even as we reflect and pray, let us temper the public debate with much patience, nobility, and reason, knowing in the end to place our greater trust in the greater purposes of greater things.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Hope Taking Wing